One key group, however, isn’t buying the hype: actual Democratic Democrats, the mostly young, grassroots insurgents who propelled Bernie Sanders in his surprisingly strong 2016 primary bid. Their rejection of Oprah is a preview of the intramural battle that’s beginning to rage again between the pragmatic professional Democrats and the idealistic Elizabeth Warren-Sanders wing. The left believes that Hillary Clinton’s loss means that 2020 should be its turn, and that the Democratic nomination should go to a genuine liberal populist—not to another centrist hand-delivered by the D.N.C. insiders who rigged the 2016 primary, nor a rich, politically unprincipled celebrity, the Democratic version of Donald Trump. “There’s really no question that Oprah is very much an establishment figure,” said Corbin Trent, a former Sanders staffer who is the communications director for Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee that is working to elect committed left-of-center Democrats in this year’s midterms. “Oprah’s speech hit plenty of important values. But from our perspective as an organization, part of what we’re trying to do is create paths to high office that don’t run through the billionaire class. One billionaire president in a decade is going to be plenty for us.”

Winfrey’s net worth is verifiably massive. Far less clear are her political beliefs. Aside from enthusiastically championing Obama, and tepidly backing Clinton, she appears to be in favor of stricter gun control, more humane immigration policies, full L.G.B.T.Q. rights, and freedom of the press. All of which are fairly standard positions for any 21st-century Democrat. Where Winfrey stands on single-payer health care, a litmus test on the left, is a large and unsettled question—and leaves the door open a crack with some Berniephiles. “If Oprah were to use her financial independence to be really politically independent, O.K., maybe,” said Briahna Joy Gray, a lawyer and contributing editor at Current Affairs. “But if she’s going to be a typical centrist candidate, she doesn’t excite me any more than Cory Booker or Joe Biden or Kamala Harris do. Bernie Sanders was independent because he actually inspired people to give him $27 donations. That’s something we should be infinitely more excited about and proud of than hoping for a benevolent billionaire to do the right thing and save us all.”

The other faction aggressively throwing cold water on the idea of an Oprah 2020 presidential run has been Winfrey’s friends. Curiously, though, some of her putative Democratic competitors wouldn’t mind seeing the possibility of candidate Oprah linger a bit longer—even though polls show her trouncing all of them. A few months of Oprah speculation could provide welcome cover from Republican attack, and it would reduce the risk of peaking too soon in the media. “No one wants to be the 2020 front-runner in January 2018,” said a top Democratic strategist. “Without Oprah, the field is going to be Noah’s Ark, but instead of two of everything, there will be four of everything—African-Americans, women, governors, mayors.”

A large primary field likely benefits people who don’t currently have high national name-recognition—such as New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, or Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti—and who might need to overtake the much-better-known Warren, Sanders, and Biden. “It all depends on what Oprah does, though,” the operative said. “If this speech was it and she doesn’t give any more oxygen to the idea, then it goes away quickly and the media moves on to something else. If she talks to a foreign policy expert, it will create a lot of coverage. And if she runs? Hell yeah she’d be an impactful candidate: the heart of the Democratic primary vote is black women, she has 100-percent name I.D., and she’s inspirational. Would she be a good candidate? Who knows? Wesley Clark was going to be a great candidate.” The general turned out to have plenty of self-inflicted weaknesses as a 2004 presidential contestant—but, like Oprah, he was no liberal favorite either.

Sean Spicer’s little white lie.

The first truth-bending claim of the Trump administration came just a day after the inauguration, when Sean Spicer introduced himself to the world by claiming that Trump’s inauguration had drawn the largest audience ever, despite several photos showing a rather sparse crowd. Within a month, Spicer, once a well-respected journeyman flack in D.C. media circles, had cemented his reputation as Trump’s own Baghdad Bob.

Trump’s first act of self-sabotage.

Less than two weeks after he was inaugurated, Trump bungled a major campaign promise when he signed an executive order restricting travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The order sparked protests across the country and threw border control into chaos as it struggled to implement . . . something. Federal courts immediately blocked the ban, declaring that it was an unconstitutional religious test meant to discriminate against Muslims, and pointed to Trump’s own comments as proof. The ban continues to wind its way through federal court, continually hamstrung thanks to the way Trump and then adviser Steve Bannon mangled its initial rollout.

Photo: By Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.

Kellyanne Conway’s quest for the perfect angle.

Back when she was still known as Trump’s maternal handler, the White House adviser drew scrutiny for kneeling on an Oval Office couch as casually as if she owned the place (she does not). She told the press that she had done so to snap a photo of Trump and a group of visiting presidents of H.C.B.U.s, and that it seemed to be the best angle.

Photo: By Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Donald Trump’s little side gig.

The lawsuit against Trump University was the perfect allegory for a Trump presidency: the real-estate billionaire stood accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars from regular folks, promising that his financial know-how would make them wealthy overnight, and then leaving them with nothing. Back in March, Trump settled three separate lawsuits—two class-action suits and a fraud case—against the university for $25 million.

Photo: By Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Melania’s hurricane stilettos.

Of course Melania Trump, former model and Upper East Side inhabitant, would think nothing of wearing stiletto heels while preparing to visit a hurricane disaster zone. But after the Internet slammed her for her tone-deaf fashion faux pas, a practice that goes back centuries, she emerged from Air Force One just hours later wearing a brand-new pair of white sneakers and what appeared to be a men’s button-up shirt.

Photo: By Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Trump’s Twitter feuds, part 2.

North Korea’s “three generations of punishment” law dictates that if a citizen commits a crime, they and their entire family will be sent to prison camps, and the next two generations of children will remain there. Somewhat similarly, Donald Trump declared that Steph Curry’s refusal to attend a White House ceremony acknowledging the Golden State Warriors N.B.A. Championship meant that the entire team’s invite was withdrawn. (When N.F.L. player Tom Brady’s turn came for a White House invite, he sidestepped controversy by claiming an illness in the family.)

Photo: By Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.

Tom Price’s nasty private-jet habit.

Of all the Trump administration officials who habitually use taxpayer dollars to fund their private jet travel, Tom Price, the former Health and Human Services secretary, was the only one let go because of it. Granted, his plane use was egregious compared to the other Cabinet members being investigated: whereas Ryan Zinke,Steve Mnuchin, and Scott Pruitt racked up a few thousand dollars in dubious flights to their homes and to the occasional donor party, Price spent $400,0000 on flights to places like Nashville (where his son lives), Philadelphia (which is less than a two-hour train ride from D.C.), and St. Simons, a private island in Georgia where he and his wife happen to own a million-dollar property. Such graft somehow infuriated Trump, who told reporters that he was “not happy” with Price’s plane profligacy.

Photo: By Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Sean Spicer’s little white lie.

The first truth-bending claim of the Trump administration came just a day after the inauguration, when Sean Spicer introduced himself to the world by claiming that Trump’s inauguration had drawn the largest audience ever, despite several photos showing a rather sparse crowd. Within a month, Spicer, once a well-respected journeyman flack in D.C. media circles, had cemented his reputation as Trump’s own Baghdad Bob.

Trump’s first act of self-sabotage.

Less than two weeks after he was inaugurated, Trump bungled a major campaign promise when he signed an executive order restricting travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The order sparked protests across the country and threw border control into chaos as it struggled to implement . . . something. Federal courts immediately blocked the ban, declaring that it was an unconstitutional religious test meant to discriminate against Muslims, and pointed to Trump’s own comments as proof. The ban continues to wind its way through federal court, continually hamstrung thanks to the way Trump and then adviser Steve Bannon mangled its initial rollout.

By Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.

Kellyanne Conway’s quest for the perfect angle.

Back when she was still known as Trump’s maternal handler, the White House adviser drew scrutiny for kneeling on an Oval Office couch as casually as if she owned the place (she does not). She told the press that she had done so to snap a photo of Trump and a group of visiting presidents of H.C.B.U.s, and that it seemed to be the best angle.

By Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Donald Trump’s little side gig.

The lawsuit against Trump University was the perfect allegory for a Trump presidency: the real-estate billionaire stood accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars from regular folks, promising that his financial know-how would make them wealthy overnight, and then leaving them with nothing. Back in March, Trump settled three separate lawsuits—two class-action suits and a fraud case—against the university for $25 million.

By Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Jared Kushner’s trendy flak vest.

Among a White House filled with apocalyptic blowhards, stoic generals, and fast-talking fame-seekers, Jared Kushner , an overweening real-estate manager with disproportionate power over his father-in-law, stood out by trying to avoid the spotlight. One could wax poetic about how the Harvard legacy student assumed responsibility for tasks in which he had little experience: overhauling government IT, creating peace in the Middle East, and tackling the opioid epidemic, to name a few. But a picture, as always, speaks a thousand words—specifically that picture of Jared in Iraq, practicing boat-shoes diplomacy in a war zone.

By Dominique A. Pineiro/Getty Images.

Trump’s stint as Comey-whisperer.

Prior to James Comey’s firing, those who believed that his eleventh-hour letter regarding her e-mails cost Hillary Clinton the election saw this image as a clear sign that he supported Trump in all things MAGA. Funny how far a little context can go: Comey’s close friend Benjamin Wittes told The New York Times that in an attempt to avoid said photo, the 6-foot-8 Comey attempted to blend in with the blue curtains at the back of the room, futilely hoping that Trump would not spot him.

By Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Melania’s hand-holding allergy.

If people obsessed over the size of Trump’s hands, they were almost equally fixated by Melania’s—specifically, why they were seldom anywhere near those of her husband, or why they slapped his away, or what it meant that, when they did come into contact with the president’s diminutive mitts, they instinctively clenched into fists.

By Jonathan Ernst/Reuters.

Trump’s Twitter feuds, part 1.

Trump’s dance of loathing-turned-love-turned-loathing with Morning Joe took a remarkably stupid turn in June, when he decided to bash “Low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe” for criticizing him on their show. Over the course of their feud, Trump at various points suggested Scarborough murdered an intern, and accused Brzezinski of committing an equally heinous crime in his eyes: getting a face-lift.

By Mark Peterson/Redux.

John Kelly’s resting “why me?” face.

When Donald Trump chooses to defend white supremacists or taunt North Korean leadership before a crowd, onlookers draw a small measure of comfort from chief of staff John Kelly’s crestfallen reactions, reading them as a sign that perhaps someone with some level of sanity holds a modicum of influence over the president. (Kelly, however, insists that he just has the military equivalent of resting bitch face.)

By Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

The Secret Service’s strained coffers.

The law requires that the Secret Service provide protection to the president and vice president’s immediate family, but the law was perhaps unprepared for the globetrotting Trump clan, which consists of one wife, five children, three children-in-law, and eight grandchildren. To complicate matters, Melania Trump adamantly refused to leave Trump Tower for the first several months of the presidency, keeping 11-year-old Barron Trump with her. (Nor did it help that Trump insisted on dragging his coterie to his various properties for golf weekends, forcing the Secret Service to do work overtime.) In August it was reported that the Secret Service would exceed its overtime-pay caps due to the sheer number of man-hours necessary to fulfill their duties.

By Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Trump’s celestial stare-down.

It is a fairly well-known fact that staring directly at a solar eclipse will fry your retinas, and on the eve of the 2017 eclipse, scientists made sure Americans were prepared, cautioning the general public to wear special glasses or to construct a pinhole viewer. But the president, who is not the biggest fan of scientists, ignored their warnings, choosing instead to gaze directly at the one thing that dared to challenge his position as the star around which everything revolves.

By Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Melania’s hurricane stilettos.

Of course Melania Trump, former model and Upper East Side inhabitant, would think nothing of wearing stiletto heels while preparing to visit a hurricane disaster zone. But after the Internet slammed her for her tone-deaf fashion faux pas, a practice that goes back centuries, she emerged from Air Force One just hours later wearing a brand-new pair of white sneakers and what appeared to be a men’s button-up shirt.

By Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Trump’s Twitter feuds, part 2.

North Korea’s “three generations of punishment” law dictates that if a citizen commits a crime, they and their entire family will be sent to prison camps, and the next two generations of children will remain there. Somewhat similarly, Donald Trump declared that Steph Curry’s refusal to attend a White House ceremony acknowledging the Golden State Warriors N.B.A. Championship meant that the entire team’s invite was withdrawn. (When N.F.L. player Tom Brady’s turn came for a White House invite, he sidestepped controversy by claiming an illness in the family.)

By Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.

Tom Price’s nasty private-jet habit.

Of all the Trump administration officials who habitually use taxpayer dollars to fund their private jet travel, Tom Price, the former Health and Human Services secretary, was the only one let go because of it. Granted, his plane use was egregious compared to the other Cabinet members being investigated: whereas Ryan Zinke,Steve Mnuchin, and Scott Pruitt racked up a few thousand dollars in dubious flights to their homes and to the occasional donor party, Price spent $400,0000 on flights to places like Nashville (where his son lives), Philadelphia (which is less than a two-hour train ride from D.C.), and St. Simons, a private island in Georgia where he and his wife happen to own a million-dollar property. Such graft somehow infuriated Trump, who told reporters that he was “not happy” with Price’s plane profligacy.